Simple and well acted, it has tension enough to knot the stomach.

I really wanted to like this movie. I feel terribly cynical trashing it, and that's why I'm giving it a middling 5. Actually, I'm giving it a 5 because there were some superb performances.

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

(44%) A well made, yet oddly completely unfunny watch centred around the crimes of the notorious murderous duo in 19th century Edinburgh. So what exactly went wrong here? Because with the cast including the talented Simon Pegg and Andy Serkis, with support from the likes of Tim Curry, Tom Wilkinson, British TV favourite Ronny Corbett, even Christopher Lee in a small cameo, and with John Landis directing meaning this should have been a hell of a lot better than it actually is. The first problem is the fact that this starts claiming to be an Earling studio production, and not once in the entire film did it ever remotely capture the feel of that once great name. It may have the darker edge you'll find in something like The ladykillers, but what is really lacking is any sort of soul or heart. It doesn't also help that the true tale of Burke and Hare isn't actually that comedic as there's no real punchline anywhere, just a couple of guys making a bit of money grave robbing and killing people, and that's about it. This isn't a bad watch by any means, but I defy anyone truly enjoying its half baked attempts.

I watched this film not really sure what to expect, but it wasn't that! I really liked it, I thought it had a good story-line and it kept quite close to the original story. I also thought that Simon Pegg as William Burke did a very convincing performance. I will admit I found the ending quite sad, poor Burke:(. I didn't find it as funny as other Simon Pegg films, but I though that even though it wasn't very funny, it was still a very good film. I am still a little confused of the 15 rating though, as I thought there was going to be a lot more blood. Overall I would say that Burke and Hare is a very funny film, with some very good actors. I would rate it 9/10 and say that it is suitable for anyone 13+.

I suppose most people who watch a lot of films develop a kind of mental shorthand that immediately alerts them to whether a film is going to be a good one or a mess, and one of mine is this: if a film made in the 1950s begins with the words 'This is a true story,' and then, a few seconds later adds the coda 'apart from the bits that aren't true,' (I'm paraphrasing here) the likelihood is that it's going to be pretty original for its era. But if a film made in 2010 begins in the same way you can be absolutely certain that it's going to be a stinker. The small alarm bells already ringing in my head after this unfortunate opening minute began to clang deafeningly when I realised that the film was written by the same team that was responsible for the woeful St. Trinians films.This is a film which expects its audience to be amused by the spectacle of two men rolling a heavy barrel to the top of a hill only to be surprised when it begins to roll of its own volition down the other side; and to hoot with laughter when a pub landlord fills the air with expletives as he ejects a patron for using foul language; and to clutch its sides, gripped by helpless mirth as a passer-by gets the wrong idea when she spots one man inspecting another man's bottom for gunshot wounds in the middle of the street.It's a shame really, because the film boasts an incredible cast and a director with the comedy-horror classic An American Werewolf in London on his CV. Plucky little Ronnie Corbett does his best to wring a few laughs from the dire script but rarely succeeds. Pegg and Serkis go through the motions with admirable professionalism but with one eye fixed firmly on their bank balance, while the audience is left to roll its eyes and wonder how many decent British scripts failed to get financial backing so that this mess could be made.

Or Hare-brained is more like it. Have you ever heard of the expression Burking? NO? Well in this film we have it all.This film stars Simon Pegg(or Pegg-head as I like to call him). This fellow has gone down in the world. I thoroughly enjoyed Shaun Of The Dead.In this one: he stinks.This story is based on The Burke and Hare murders (also known as the West Port murders) were serial murders perpetrated in Edinburgh, Scotland, from November 1827 to 31 October 1828. The killings were attributed to Irish immigrants William Burke and William Hare, who sold the corpses of their 17 victims to provide material for dissection. Their purchaser was Doctor Robert Knox, a private anatomy lecturer whose students were drawn from Edinburgh Medical College. Their accomplices included Burke's mistress, Helen McDougal, and Hare's wife, Margaret Laird. From their infamous method of killing their victims has come the word "burking", meaning to purposefully smother and compress the chest of a victim, and a derived meaning, to quietly suppressBack to the film: the plot is a parody of the actual killings. Burke is shown to be a romantic in the film (as well as a man of principles), madly in love with Helen McDougal (Isla Fisher) - under the name Ginny Hawkins - a former prostitute, attempts to attract the attention of everyone in the bar by doing an extract from the William Shakespeare play Macbeth. You feel sympathetic towards Burke.The character of Hare is shown as a man who lives only for himself. He even forsakes his best friend Burke at the end of the film. In this film Hare is NOT dealt with by the mob at the end of the film. In this one: he opens his own funeral parlour.Ronny Corbett(star of the Two Ronnies BBC TV series) makes a welcome appearance. In this film he looks like a parody of Napoleon Bonaparte. Christopher Lee makes a cameo appearance as Joseph.William Burke (Simon Pegg) and William Hare (Andy Serkis) attempting to sell cheese mould which they state is growing moss. When they are found out, they flee back to an Inn owned by Hare's wife Lucky (Jessica Hynes), who states that one of their lodgers has died. Burke and Hare decide to transport the corpse to Knox. They are forced to break the corpse's spine in order to fit inside the barrel.Burke and Hare arrive at Knox's castle and present the now mangled corpse to Knox. Knox then agrees that if the pair bring him two bodies a week for dissection, he will pay them a large amount of money.Joseph one of the lodgers at the Inn, is an elderly man, near death and before he can die a natural death, this process is speeded up by the duo of Burke and Hare. They take his body to Dr. Robert Knox (Tom Wilkinson), who gives them both a large amount of money.From then onwards, Hare thinks this is a very lucrative business.Verdict: the film is very poorly scripted and the comedy is insufficient and falls flat on its face. Even Ronnie Corbett can't save this film.I have seen 3 films which are far superior than this. They are 1. The Body Snatcher (1945) 2. The Flesh And The Fiends, and 3. The Doctor And The Devils (1985).If the script had been good and with better choice of actors as Burke and Hare, this film could have been better.